My ex loved all these "cooking" things to same me time & energy in the kitchen. The juicer and the rice cooker were never taken out of their boxes. He used the fry baby & sandwich thing - I got to clean them.

My rice cooker just got a second life - I love it to cook brown rice, but haven't fixed any in a long time. Now I am using it for steel cut oatmeal. Makes it fantastic!

I bought the entire original series Star Trek on video tape. (One of those deals where they send you 2 tapes every month and charge a ridiculous amount of money. They are still taking up an entire book shelf, most unopened. And I don't have a video player anymore.

Want to buy another set?

I got a ten-season series of a tv show from a merchant online with lots of good seller ratings, promising all ten seasons with the original music and no edits (since the commercially available ones have been altered). $200 later, and I got a pile of poor-quality DVDs in which over HALF of the discs were either the wrong show, repeats, mistakes, or unplayable. I contacted the merchant, but within a week, they were out of business, and I had a file-box worth of useless piles of DVDs.

I have to say I loved my rice cooker. I have difficulty sometimes cooking rice without scorching or undercooking it, so a rice cooker was ideal for me - set it and forget it, as they say.

Asian person here - I grew up with rice cookers, have owned several and use mine on a regular basis. Yes, it's single-purpose, but we get a lot of use out of that single purpose. Just about all other Asians I know not only grew up with but also have rice cookers and use them all the time. Maybe it's a cultural thing? (BIL, who is not Asian and didn't grow up eating a lot of rice, has a great rice cooker he tried to give me a few years ago that he won but almost never used; if it weren't so small, I would've taken it from him)

I'm not Asian, and I love rice. Just ordered another rice cooker, as the one I had that I got from the local thrift store died, but I used it at least two or three times a week.

My money-spending embarrassment was a mandolin slicer. The only thing I sliced was my thumb.

Six matching Aluratek Libre Pro ereaders - turns out that they are the ONLY ones that don't cause eyestrain for Lil Sis, who is on a shuttle bus from her area to downtown Houston twice a day for 45 minutes or so. There is just enough light from over the seat for her to read these, they are small & lightweight - so they fit in her purse, she has a spare charger to take to work with her (or leave the one on the charger at home) so that she always has one charged & ready to go.

She spent a week in the hospital last year and having something to read (with several hundred books on it) was a life saver - as soon as someone brought her the charger from home.....one charged while she read the other one.

Mom liked the one Lil Sis got first - so Mom got one, too. Now they both have TWO (so that they have a spare - Mom reads while waiting for Dad to get out of the doctor's office, while he's driving the thirty minutes to the doctor's office (they live in a small town), and sometimes while on the back porch - these are the e-ink that you can read outside or inside without glare.

And I had one for DD - but she couldn't use it at work (security issue - no electronics) - so now I have two. One of them has poor battery life - so having a second one with me isn't the worst thing to happen to me (I can remember sitting in emergency rooms, doctors' offices, and a few other places when I would have LOVED to have one of these thing).

The only drawback is that reading is ALL you can do - but no one knows if you are reading Harry Potter (yes), Shades of Gray (no), Narnia (maybe), or even a book of classic fairy tales (yeah, several). Because there is no book cover with the name of the book on the spine - what you are reading is not going to attract attention, spoilers from bystanders, and (no games & no internet connection) - fewer SS will ask you to loan* it to them or one of their cchhiillddrreenn!

*Because it isn't in color and can't play videos.....or games...or let them check their email, Facebook, or Twitter!

And the last time I got stuck in an airport - it was much easier to take something the size of a small paperback with me without sticking it in my purse than it was to turn off the laptop & put it back in the carrier. This thing fits in one hand or is quickly shoved in an outside pocket of your purse, carryon tote bag, or even a larger jacket pocket!

Six matching Aluratek Libre Pro ereaders - turns out that they are the ONLY ones that don't cause eyestrain for Lil Sis, who is on a shuttle bus from her area to downtown Houston twice a day for 45 minutes or so. There is just enough light from over the seat for her to read these, they are small & lightweight - so they fit in her purse, she has a spare charger to take to work with her (or leave the one on the charger at home) so that she always has one charged & ready to go.

She spent a week in the hospital last year and having something to read (with several hundred books on it) was a life saver - as soon as someone brought her the charger from home.....one charged while she read the other one.

Mom liked the one Lil Sis got first - so Mom got one, too. Now they both have TWO (so that they have a spare - Mom reads while waiting for Dad to get out of the doctor's office, while he's driving the thirty minutes to the doctor's office (they live in a small town), and sometimes while on the back porch - these are the e-ink that you can read outside or inside without glare.

And I had one for DD - but she couldn't use it at work (security issue - no electronics) - so now I have two. One of them has poor battery life - so having a second one with me isn't the worst thing to happen to me (I can remember sitting in emergency rooms, doctors' offices, and a few other places when I would have LOVED to have one of these thing).

The only drawback is that reading is ALL you can do - but no one knows if you are reading Harry Potter (yes), Shades of Gray (no), Narnia (maybe), or even a book of classic fairy tales (yeah, several). Because there is no book cover with the name of the book on the spine - what you are reading is not going to attract attention, spoilers from bystanders, and (no games & no internet connection) - fewer SS will ask you to loan* it to them or one of their cchhiillddrreenn!

*Because it isn't in color and can't play videos.....or games...or let them check their email, Facebook, or Twitter!

And the last time I got stuck in an airport - it was much easier to take something the size of a small paperback with me without sticking it in my purse than it was to turn off the laptop & put it back in the carrier. This thing fits in one hand or is quickly shoved in an outside pocket of your purse, carryon tote bag, or even a larger jacket pocket!

Slightly OT but I have both a Kindle Fire and basic Kindle. the basic you can read outdoors, and I also take it when I travel, if I'm not sure about getting a wi fi signal. I can use my phone for that, and if I lose/damage the basic one, its about 1/4 the cost to replace it, than the tablet.

My DH bought a set from some guy in a truck stop years and years ago. I've never cut up a soda can or anything like what was advertised, but my Ginzu knives slice up tomatoes, onions, and other vegetables very well.

My DH bought a set from some guy in a truck stop years and years ago. I've never cut up a soda can or anything like what was advertised, but my Ginzu knives slice up tomatoes, onions, and other vegetables very well.

I have a set of Ginzu knockoffs that I bought at a discount store about 25 years ago, and they're still good knives. Because they have that special "always sharp" edge on them the large knife does a good job of slicing bread, and I can cut everything from vegetables to frozen meat with them, so I consider the $3 I spent for them money well spent.

The over priced pans sold at home and garden shows. I fell for the shill in the audience saying she was buying a second set as a gift. I used them for over a decade, but they weren't worth the money. They couldn't really "fry" with no oil.

I have to say I loved my rice cooker. I have difficulty sometimes cooking rice without scorching or undercooking it, so a rice cooker was ideal for me - set it and forget it, as they say.

Asian person here - I grew up with rice cookers, have owned several and use mine on a regular basis. Yes, it's single-purpose, but we get a lot of use out of that single purpose. Just about all other Asians I know not only grew up with but also have rice cookers and use them all the time. Maybe it's a cultural thing? (BIL, who is not Asian and didn't grow up eating a lot of rice, has a great rice cooker he tried to give me a few years ago that he won but almost never used; if it weren't so small, I would've taken it from him)

A thing that you use every day to cook your staple food? A rice cooker in an Asian household makes as much if not more sense as a pop-up toaster in a Western one, and we'd never think to question the usefulness of that single-use appliance.

Logged

"A true gentleman is one who is never unintentionally rude." - Oscar Wilde

My Magic Bullet however, smells like burnt rubber every time we use it. The motor is so weak it can't handle lumps of ice cream in milk (kids like to make shakes). My next appliance purchase will be an immersion blender from Target.

My Magic Bullet however, smells like burnt rubber every time we use it. The motor is so weak it can't handle lumps of ice cream in milk (kids like to make shakes). My next appliance purchase will be an immersion blender from Target.

Our Magic Bullet is probably the most used kitchen small appliance. It makes smoothes for DH, DD & myself every morning, I used it to grind coffee beans as needed, and make frappucinnos instead of visiting Starbucks. The boys prefer to make frozen lemonade or frozen Tang drinks. I use it for super fast whipped cream too.